The Blue Wizards are one of the great mysteries of Middle-earth.
Not only is there very little written about them, with Tolkien himself speaking about
them in a theoretical manner.
But their story is drastically different between Tolkien’s earlier and later writings.
First, we will start with the earliest, and likely most well known version of the Blue
Wizards.
As we’ve seen in our videos on Gandalf and Radagast, the Valar chose the Istari or wizards
as emissaries to Middle-earth to assist the peoples in their fight against Sauron.
Manwe, lord of the Valar, summons a council where these Istari are chosen.
At that time, Orome, the hunter, choses Alatar - the first of the blue wizards, who decides
to bring along his friend Pallando - the second blue wizard.
Alatar and Pallando come to Middle-earth in 1000 of the Third Age, the same year as the
other wizards.
After their arrival, they travel to the East of Middle-earth, as does Saruman.
Knowing that the blue wizards are associated with Orome, it makes a lot of sense that they
would travel to the East.
It was Orome who led the first Elves who awoke far east of the Sea of Rhun to the Westlands
of Middle-earth.
Nearly 1500 years later, Saruman would return to the North West of Middle-earth, while the
Blue Wizards were not.
While some may speculate that Saruman himself may have had some part to play in the seeming
disappearance of the Blue Wizards, it should be noted that there is no direct evidence
for this.
Also, it should be noted that in Unfinished Tales, it leads us to believe that Saruman’s
fall comes much later than his journey east - not until around 2463, after Saruman has
returned, that a rift forms between him and Gandalf.
When the White Council is formed, Saruman is appointed its leader only after Gandalf
turns it down.
In Unfinished Tales, we are also told that Gandalf has “greater strength and greater
influence upon the dwellers in Middle-earth, even though he hid his power and desired neither
fear nor reverence.”
Saruman’s jealousy of Gandalf eventually turns to hatred.
While we will certainly cover this in a later video on Saruman, all this to say, we can
safely assume Saruman didn’t have anything to do with the Blue Wizards ultimate fate.
Even Tolkien himself, in this early version was unsure what became of the Blue Wizards...
In Letter 211, the author states: I really do not know anything clearly about the other
two [wizards] – since they do not concern the history of the North.West.
I think they went as emissaries to distant regions, East and South, far out of Númenórean
range: missionaries to 'enemy-occupied' lands, as it were.
What success they had I do not know; but I fear that they failed, as Saruman did, though
doubtless in different ways; and I suspect they were founders or beginners of secret
cults and 'magic' traditions that outlasted the fall of Sauron.
We also know from Unfinished Tales that Gandalf is considered the only wizard to have remained
faithful to his task, and the sole Istari to return to Valinor.
That is all that was known of the Blue Wizards for quite some time.
However, nearing the end of his life, Tolkien returns to the Blue Wizards, where he makes
some rather large changes…
Rather than arrive in 1000TA, instead they arrive much earlier, at roughly the same time
that Glorfindel returns to Middle-earth in 1600 SA.
This is a significant change in the timeline, as it means the Blue Wizards were in Middle-earth
for over 2,800 years before the other Istari arrive.
While the newly resurrected Glorfindel is tasked with aiding Elrond in the war in Eriador,
the Blue Wizards are tasked with travelling to
the East.
Tolkien also implies that they no longer are considered to have drifted from their mission,
stating in a text found in The Peoples of Middle-earth:
Their task was to circumvent Sauron: to bring help to the few tribes of Men that had rebelled
from Melkor-worship, to stir up rebellion ... and after his first fall to search out
his hiding (in which they failed) and to cause [?dissension and disarray] among the dark
East ... They must have had very great influence on the history of the Second Age and Third
Age in weakening and disarraying the forces of East ... who would both in the Second Age
and Third Age otherwise have ... outnumbered the West.
In this version of the Middle-earth tale, Alatar and Pallando come to be known as Morinehtar
and Romestamo, names which mean Darkness-slayer and East-helper.
Let’s be honest, I think Alatar came out on top with the name changes.
So, in this version, the wizards travel to the East, where during the early Third Age,
through the end of the Watchful Peace, they are tasked with finding where Sauron dwells,
in which they fail.
So during this time, Sauron manages to remain hidden from the Blue Wizards, while also corrupting
the Men of the East.
Unfortunately, this was a common occurrence in this realm of Middle-earth, as during the
First Age, Morgoth had corrupted many of the men in this area.
In the second age, after Morgoth is defeated, Sauron escapes the judgement of the Valar
and flees to the East and South where he turns the men to evil and dominates them.
To the Easterlings, Sauron comes to be feared as a king and a god.
Lending further weight to Sam’s thoughts: He wondered what the man's name was and where
he came from; and if he was really evil of heart, or what lies or threats had led him
on the long march from his home; and if he would rather have stayed there in peace.”
When Sauron is defeated in the War of Elves and Sauron in ____, he retreats to Mordor
and continues expanding his sway to the east, gaining servants and worshippers.
At some point during the coming years, Sauron gives a ring of power to at least one of the
lord of men in the east - that man was known as Khamul.
With the ring, Khamul becomes a powerful sorcerer and ruler in the East - that is, until the
side effects kicked in, and he becomes a wraith - second only to the Witch King.
In 2060 of the third age, Gandalf enters Dol Guldur, and Sauron flees before being discovered.
As he tends to do, Sauron flees to the East, where he once again works to corrupt the Easterlings
and bend them to his will.
This time for nearly 400 years - the time known as the Watchful Peace in the West of
Middle-earth.
Now we know that Morinehtar and Romestamo ensure that the forces of the East do not
outnumber the West, which helps our Fellowship heroes secure the ultimate victory in the
War of the Ring.
Personally, I am very intrigued my Tolkien’s line stating part of their mission was to
“bring help to the few tribes of Men that had rebelled from Melkor-worship, to stir
up rebellion.
The idea that the Blue wizards were assisting groups of men in the East, much like Gandalf
does in the West, to fight the forces of Sauron is a captivating idea indeed.
So where do these two very different accounts of the Blue Wizards leave us?
And is there any chance that other characters in Middle-earth discovered their ultimate
fate?
The earlier arrival is certainly an interesting one, as we have references to the blue wizards
in the main books such as LOTR.
For instance, when Saruman in his wrath says to Gandalf: “Later!
Yes, when you also have the Keys of Barad-dur itself, I suppose and the crowns of the seven
kings and the rods of the Five Wizards” So we know that either way, Saruman does know
of the Blue Wizards, even if he didn’t arrive in Middle-earth with them.
Is this simply because they all lived in Valinor?
Though he arrived in Middle-earth 2841 years later, he may yet have met them during the
nearly 1500 years he spent in the East.
We can only guess!
In researching my last video on Aragorn’s life after The Lord of the Rings, I found
it interesting to learn that in the years following Sauron’s downfall that Aragorn
and Eomer had multiple battles with the Easterlings in the land of Rhun.
Could King Elessar have learned of, or even met the Blue Wizards during his time in the
East?
In either version of their story - whether founders of secret cults that were around
during this time, or as heroes in the East, weakening and disarraying those loyal to Sauron
- they would certainly have had a direct impact on the threats to Gondor even after Sauron’s
fall.
Now I want to make it clear - this is just an observation of my own and not even something
I necessarily even believe would have happened.
I mean, the blue wizards were actively looking for Sauron in the East and didn’t find him,
so it’s hard to say if Aragorn could’ve found the wizards by chance.
I truly believe that part of what makes Tolkien’s world so amazing is the fact that it is so
big, so detailed, yet there are still mysteries and things that even the author doesn’t
know for certain.
Do you think the Blue Wizards ever had to face off
against Khamul, the second greatest of the ringwraiths?
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